South Carolina inmate Richard Bernard Moore, 57, who became the first state prisoner to pick the way in which he would be executed (after a new law came into effect), has decided to die by firing squad rather than in the electric chair, according to court documents.

The man has spent more than two decades on death row after being convicted for the 1999 murder of convenience store clerk James Mahoney in Spartanburg. He is expected to be the first person to be put to death in the state since 2011.

❗First flight with new US military aid for Ukraine to arrive within 24 hours, report says

💬US has not determined any need to change nuclear posture at present - State Dept

A man in Singapore attacked a woman, who is believed to be his wife, but immediately met with resistance from eyewitnesses: they chased him, throwing chairs and a garbage bin. Law enforcement agents later came to the scene, tasered the suspect and arrested him. The police also commended the members of the public who had tried to intervene on the victim's behalf.

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❗Twitter’s board of directors has issued a new “shareholder rights plan” to block Elon Musk’s proposed offer to buy the network: it can give certain shareholders the right to purchase more stock if Musk attempts to seize control. In a press release, the board of directors has called Musk's request on Twitter “an unsolicited, non-binding proposal”

☣️Biological weapons: Pathogens, their proliferation and prohibition

The development, production and stockpiling of biological weapons has been banned since the signing of the Biological Weapons Convention in 1972.

Nevertheless, information on research into, testing of and even military use of such arms is periodically uncovered – such as the recent string of revelations by the Russian MoD on US military biological activities in Ukraine and other countries.

Pathogenic microorganisms serve as the central component of biological weapons. Upon contact with a human being, bioweapons can cause epidemics which temporarily incapacitate their victims, at best, and at worst, cause death.

Find out what kinds of pathogens are used in such arms, their means of delivery, and the best-known cases of their use throughout history in our infographic.

The Russian Defence Ministry's latest statements:

▪On the morning of April 15, Russian Armed Forces prevented an attempt to hit Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station with a missile strike: two Tochka-U missiles were shot down by Russian air defence systems;

▪10 enemy targets were hit by high-precision air-launched missiles during the past day: three areas where Ukrainian troops were deployed, two groups of Ukrainian military equipment and weapons, several warehouses of rocket and artillery weapons and several points where neo-Nazi formations were deployed;

▪Russian air defence systems shot down a Ukrainian UAV Tu-143 Reys;

▪Missile forces and artillery hit 217 Ukrainian military facilities, including 15 command posts of Ukrainian troops

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❗Zelensky urges Biden to designate Russia as 'state sponsor of terrorism' - reports

⚡DPR forces spokesman: Kiev planning Tochka-U strike at railway station in Lozovaya, Kharkov region

⚡Russian MoD: We're warning the Western countries in advance that Russia has evidence of the impending crimes of the Kiev regime

🇷🇸 Mass rally called "Not in my name" related to Serbia's vote for Russia's withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council is taking place in the centre of Belgrade. Recently Serbia’s President Vucic said the country had to vote for Russia’s withdrawal due to a threat of Western sanctions

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❗️Russia has sent a note regarding the military assistance provided to Ukraine to all countries, including the US, the Foreign Ministry told Sputnik on Friday

🇺🇸🧑‍🚀🇷🇺 US astronauts and Russian cosmonauts currently serving on the ISS share meals and watch movies together on weekends, NASA commander Tom Marshburn says.

"There is open traffic between the US/ESA and Russian segments," Marshburn said. "On weekends, we usually have a meal together [and] usually watch a movie together."

He described the relationship as “very collegial” and “very friendly.”

“We rely on each other for our survival. It is a dangerous environment: We are all up here for the same purpose - to explore and keep performing the science ... It has been a real pleasure working with our colleagues,” the astronaut added.

Photo credit: NASA

🇺🇸😂Can he see something that we cannot?

Biden extended his arm for a handshake...with thin air. Who do you think he was expecting to see there?

🔶A former Camp Pendleton Marine Sgt. was sentenced to 28 years in prison for sexually molesting a 3-year-old child, according to Marine Times. Michael Hamby Jr., 31, pleaded guilty to engaging in a sexual act on the child with another male suspect.

The former Marine Sgt. and his co-defendant, Elijah Alexander Vazquez, exchanged emails with each other regarding their sexual interest in children in 2016, according to The U.S. Attorney’s Office. Phone messages and email exchanges between Hamby and Vasquez continued, ultimately leading the two-child molesters to meet up and abuse the 3-year-old.

Child pornography was also found on both Hamby and Vasquez' hard drives, according to Patch.com.

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👀😬DaBaby was the alleged triggerman who shot a home intruder at his North Carolina estate Wednesday night, according to a report.

The rapper was home at his $2.3 million Troutman compound when a man trespassed onto the property at about 7:45 p.m., TMZ said.

DaBaby, 30, born Jonathan Kirk, shot the intruder in the leg after the two exchanged words, sources told the outlet. “I shot him in the leg,” a man told a 911 dispatcher in a six-minute emergency call released by Iredell County Emergency Communications and obtained by WCNC.

“OK and why did you do that?” the dispatcher asked.

“He’s trespassing on my property … I don’t know what he’s here for. What he’s here to take, what he’s here to do … He’s neutralized until you guys get here,” the man said. No arrests had been made and the victim was expected to survive, according to officials.

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🚨Police in Phoenix were frantically searching Friday for a suspect accused of shooting a police officer at a gas station.

Nicholas Cody Cowan, 35, remained on the run early Friday after shooting a female officer Thursday who needed surgery to remove the bullet, department officials said. “Let’s find this guy,” Police Chief Jeri Williams tweeted while citing a $10,000 reward for info leading to Cowan’s arrest.

The unnamed veteran officer, who was in stable condition Thursday, is “doing well in the hospital,” Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Andy Williams told The Post Friday. Cowan, who is heavily tattooed, should be considered “armed and dangerous” and was last seen wearing a black hat, black T-shirt, and black shorts. Anyone who spots him should not approach and instead call 911 immediately, police said.

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📁🤰Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a 15-week abortion ban into law on Thursday, joining several other Republican-led states that have imposed similar restrictions on the procedure.

The new law which will go into effect July 1 would prohibit abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, a dramatic cut from the current limit of 24 weeks.

It does not allow for exemptions for pregnancies caused by rape, incest, or human trafficking. However, it does permit the procedure when an abortion is deemed necessary to save the mother’s life, prevent serious injury or if the fetus has a fatal abnormality.

Florida’s Republican-led Senate passed the bill early last month 23-15. “This will represent the most significant protections for life that have been enacted in this state in a generation,” DeSantis said Thursday when signing the bill.

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⚡️🇺🇸🇺🇦 The Ukrainian prime minister, the country's finance minister will visit Washington next week, US media report

🔶The Biden administration announced on Friday that it would offer temporary protected status to nationals of Cameroon, shielding them from deportation and enabling them to obtain work permits, amid an escalating armed conflict that has spawned a humanitarian crisis in the African country.

Some 40,000 nationals of Cameroon, many of whom sought safe haven in the United States in recent years, are expected to be eligible. The largest communities of people from Cameroon are in Washington, D.C., the metropolitan area, and California.

Immigrant advocates and Democratic lawmakers had been ratcheting up pressure on the Biden administration in recent months to extend the humanitarian protection to Cameroon, especially after the administration moved swiftly when war erupted in Ukraine to offer temporary protected status last month to people from that country who were already in the United States.

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